Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Company on Etsy
Tea Description:
A young tea (first crafted in 1938), Dianhong Gong Fu tea is a fantastic, full-bodied tea of Yunnan. For a black tea, it is distinctly mellow with subtle fruity notes and a slight maltiness. In the context of tea making, “Gong Fu” can roughly be translated to mean “great skill”, or the skill required to craft the tea, while “Dian Hong” (or Dianhong) means “Yunnan Red” (Dian being short for Yunnan and hong meaning red (as in red tea)).
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! This Premium Dian Hong Gong Fu Black Tea from M&K’s Tea Company is wonderful!
It’s a smooth, flavorful tea with a note of tangy astringency toward the finish. I notice that the astringency starts out rather faint but as I continue to sip, the astringency builds. It doesn’t become really strong or anything, but, it is definitely stronger now than when I first started sipping on this cup. It’s a drier finish now than when I first started drinking this tea.
It’s a full-flavored tea but it’s not an overly aggressive tea, as the description above implies, it has a mellowness to it that I quite like. This would be a great tea to serve in the afternoon as a pick-me-up, but not a tea that I’d reach for in the morning when I want that boost of gusto.
Nice fruity notes – I taste plum! There are notes of malt but not a strong ‘sweetness’ to this tea. There is a balance between sweet and savory.
Overall, a really enjoyable cup of tea. I don’t know that this is the best Dian Hong black tea that I’ve tried, but it’s a mighty fine one.
Nonpareil Te Gong Huang Shan Mao Feng Green Tea from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
The historic Huang Shan Mao Feng is well-known as one of the ten famous Chinese tea. This Ming Qian Huang Shan Mao Feng is a kind of pre-ming green tea. Pre-ming tea has strict requirement of the picking time and its making standard, thus the bird-tongue appearance could been perfect formed, as well as the brisk flavor. Both of which are favored by tea lovers.
Our Nonpareil Huang Shan Mao Feng Green tea is Te Gong grade. Te Gong refers to two Chinese words: 特(tè) and 贡(gòng). 特 is short for 特级, which means the tea’s grade is nonpareil; while 贡 is short for 贡品, meaning that the tea was used to be paid as tribute to the emperor.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
What a pleasure it has been to try Teavivre’s newest green teas from this spring. They taste so fresh and wonderful!
This Nonpareil Te Gong Huang Shan Mao Feng Green Tea – quite a name! – is lovely. I am a fan of Mao Feng Green teas anyway, they’re one of my favorite of the ‘ten famous’ Chinese teas. I enjoyed two infusions from one measurement of this tea, and I found both to be quite good.
The first infusion was delicate in flavor at first, and I found that the flavor developed as I continued to sip. I’m not sure if this is because the tea was cooling slightly or because the flavors developed on the palate after taking a few sips. Either way, this is a tea that requires a patient palate, but don’t worry, that patience will be rewarded soon enough!
It is a beautifully sweet flavor with notes of fruit. I don’t often experience fruity notes with green tea (usually I experience grassy or vegetal notes, but not so much of a fruit note as this Mao Feng offers), and it reminds me of a combination of sweet grapes, melon and apple. There is no tartness to these fruit notes, so think only of the sweetest grapes and apples, with the lush, juicy taste of a sweet honeydew melon. This is a tea you want to slurp to get the most out of these fruit notes! Aerate the tea on the palate and you’ll be happy with the result.
I added thirty seconds onto the steep time for the second infusion. This cup offers a deeper flavor with even more sweetness. You definitely want to take this tea for a second steep! There is a lot of flavor to this second cup. Sweet with nutty flavors, and the fruit notes are still there too. This time, I taste less of the grape and more of the melon. There is a little bit of vegetative taste that comes through now too, but there is more fruit than vegetable to this cup. It’s a very refreshing cuppa!
Of the two infusions, the second is my favorite, but the first was certainly worthwhile too. I enjoyed both and what I liked best is that both were so different from one another – it was like taking two adventures with one tea. An exceptional Mao Feng!
Nonpareil Te Gong Huang Shan Mao Feng Green Tea from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
The historic Huang Shan Mao Feng is well-known as one of the ten famous Chinese tea. This Ming QianHuang Shan Mao Feng was picked on March 23, 2013, is a kind of pre-ming green tea. Pre-ming tea has strict requirement of the picking time and its making standard, thus the bird-tongue appearance could been perfect formed, as well as the brisk flavor. Both of which are favored by tea lovers.
Our Nonpareil Huang Shan Mao Feng Green tea is Te Gong grade. Te Gong refers to two Chinese words: 特(tè) and 贡(gòng). 特 is short for 特级, which means the tea’s grade is nonpareil; while 贡 is short for 贡品, meaning that the tea was used to be paid as tribute to the emperor.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve had the opportunity to try many different Mao Feng Green Teas, but this Nonpareil Te Gong Huang Shan from Teavivre is one of the very best that I’ve ever encountered. It has an outstanding flavor.
These gorgeous green leaves produce a clear, soft green liquid that tastes earthy and sweet at first, and then as I continue to sip, I notice different flavors develop. The taste and texture is soft and creamy, with the cream notes falling somewhere between milk and butter with slight vanilla-like tones.
By the time I’m at mid-cup, I begin to notice a crisp apple-y taste that is sweet with hints of tang. The tangy note develops further into something that is more savory than tangy toward the bottom of the cup. It’s a nice, well-rounded tea.
I really enjoyed this Mao Feng from Teavivre . Be sure to take this tea through its paces because it can deliver several flavorful infusions! A true delight to drink.
Superfine Tan Yang Gong Fu Black Tea from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
Being the first one among Fujian’s three best Gong Fu Black Teas (Bai Lin Gong Fu, Zheng He Gong Fu, Tan Yang Gong Fu), Tan Yang Gong Fu Black Tea has tight and thin leaves, looks glossy, which could be seen from TeaVivre’s product photo. When looking at this tea, the golden pekoe is particularly eye-catching, strongly connected to its high quality. Under the effect of photosynthesis, fresh buds contain the largest amount of beneficial substances than other parts. Moreover, the traditional making method of black tea has retained the nutrition in the most volume.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Having tried several different Fujian Gong Fu Black Teas, including Teavivre’s stunning Bailin Gongfu Black Tea, I was looking forward to trying this Superfine Tan Yang Gong Fu Black Tea from Teavivre. But, my previous experiences with Fujian black teas did not prepare me for what this tea had in store!
This is simply different!
It is still quite similar to other Fujian black teas in that it has the sweet, satisfying flavors of chocolate and caramel. But whereas most of the Fujian black teas with which I’ve had experience would be vaguely reminiscent of say, an Assam in its rich, malty tone, this Superfine Tan Yang Gong Fu Black Tea is much more reminiscent of a Ceylon. It has that bright, brisk tone to the cup that reminds me of a very high-quality Ceylon, but with the sweet, chocolate-y and caramel-y tones that I love from a Fujian black. With this tea I get the best of both of those teas in one cup!
This tea is not quite as rich and not quite as full-bodied, in my opinion, but that isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes, a crisp, exhilarating cuppa like this is just what you want! This would make an exceptional afternoon cup – it makes a great pick-me-up for those times when you’re starting to feel yourself wind down but you still have stuff to get done. This will help energize you without causing you to start bouncing off the walls!
This is a pleasantly sweet tea, as I mentioned before, with notes of chocolate and caramel, but there is also a sweet fruit note to this as well. I think that the lightness to this tea allows the fruit notes to express themselves a little better than in a typical Fujian black tea. Hints of a flower seem to float in the far-off distance.
A really enjoyable cup of tea – courtesy of Teavivre – a name that has become synonymous with fine teas!